Calls of ISI spy with Pak diplomat led to his arrest

The arrest of an alleged ISI spy in Chennai was the culmination of an over six-month-long operation during which the NIA sleuths managed to tap his conversations with a Pakistani high commission staffer in Colombo.

The arrest of an alleged ISI spy in Chennai was the culmination of an over six-month-long operation during which the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sleuths managed to tap his conversations with a Pakistani high commission staffer in Colombo.

Sources told HT that the alleged spy, Arun Selvarajan, had taken photos of the Kalpakkam atomic power station and sent them to his handlers in the Pakistani high commission in Colombo as well.

“Selvarajan’s conversations will be part of our charge sheet in the case. It will be difficult for Pakistan to deny its involvement in the spy ring now,” said a counter terror official requesting anonymity.

“The alleged spy Arun Selvarajan was in touch with a Pakistani high commission staffer known as Saghe,” the official said.

“The NIA was tapping Selvarajan’s conversations with Saghe for quite some time after taking due permission from the authorities,” he added.

Besides the Kalpakkam atomic power station, Arun Selvarajan also carried out recees of installations like the National Security Guard hub, the Army cantonment and Coast Guard offices in Chennai after having gained access there through an event management company that he had opened there.

More recently, Selvarajan had also taken to visiting Bengaluru frequently and had opened a branch of his event management company there, according to sources. In the last two years, counter terror official have nabbed three alleged ISI spies from Chennai — all being run by a Pakistani high commission staffer Amir Zubair Siddiqui who was posted as visa counsellor there.

Pakistan later recalled Siddiqui from the high commission in Colombo. Saghe allegedly works under Siddiqui. The NIA has discovered that Pakistani officials funded his education in an aviation academy in Chennai.

They also provided the alleged spy with money for setting up his event management company.

Selvarajan has been living in Chennai from 2011. He had fled to the southern city after facing charges of harbouring Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres in Sri Lanka.